


Solitaire

by aphunitedstates



Category: Hetalia - Fandom, Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Cardverse, M/M, Multi, Other, no set ship, uuuhhh no usuk fuck off
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-02 04:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15789354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphunitedstates/pseuds/aphunitedstates
Summary: Alfred becomes King of Spades and suddenly has no clue what he's doing, but he knows that his people rely on him. Being the youngest king, he has to face the other three kingdoms.  There may be a war, maybe not idk read and find out





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first ever fic! I started writing this on a whim, so, I'm kinda making it up as I go.
> 
> I'm in senior year of high school, meaning I'm pretty busy, but I wont abandon this fic. I will either update every Friday or every other Friday. Please be patient if I get behind! I put a lot of work into this story and it involves a lot of proofreading and changes. It's also a lot more difficult due to the fact that I have no set plot, just a ton of ideas! I hope that you stick with me and enjoy the story. Thank you!

Part One: Alfred’s POV  
Chapter 1

     When I was a kid, I wanted to be the world’s number one hero. Luckily, I was born into that kinda life - sorta. I was never meant to be king. I grew up knowing I would never have that reign, power. I would never get to lead others to greatness, until the day came for my brother to be king.

     My older brother, Matthew, is only a few years older than me. We grew up good, playing swords and croquet. Our Dad ruled land of Spades and was married to the King of Diamonds, King Francis Bonnefoy, our Papa. Matthew and I have always gotten along, but something has always separated us. At the time, I always thought that it was because he was going to be king and I wasn’t. But it wasn’t like that at all. I felt bad for being so jealous, but what little kid didn’t want to be king? Despite this, we got along great: a few fights here and there, but I loved, and still love, him more than anything in this world.

  
     The way our kingdom is set, once the King or Queen has a child, by the time they turn sixteen, they become the new ruler. It was tradition, it’s always been like that for as long as dad could remember, and his father, and so on. I remember it so clearly, Matt’s sixteenth birthday, I was thirteen at the time. As hard as I tried not to, I was sulking around our castle. I slumped myself down into a chair as I watched Papa put up decorations around the pillars in our grand hall.

  
     “What do you think, Alfred? I decided to go with poppies. I think Matthieu will love them.” Papa said fondly as he intertwined the small, red, flowers with yellow lace. I couldn’t help but smile, Papa was always so considerate and he loved us with all he had. Sometimes, I felt like that was all he was made of, love. It came as naturally to him as leaves to a tree.

  
     “Yeah, I think he’ll love them,” I said, coming out of my selfish slum, “where is Matt anyway? I haven’t seen him all day.”

  
     “I’m sure he’s still in his bedroom. It’s a big day for your big brother, _mon trésor_. Why don’t you go try and see him? You know how he is.” Papa replied sweetly.

  
     “Okay,” I said and hopped up from my place on the sofa. I marched happily down our enormous hallway. I started to feel better with each step. After all, I was super proud of Matt.

      I wandered through the halls, gazing up at the grand paintings on the walls. Finally I reached Matthew’s door, leaned back on my heels, then on my toes, and knocked abruptly on the door.

  
      “Maaaaaatt!” I remember calling out, pounding on the door, “C’mon, Matt, you’ve gotta come see the decorations Papa is putting up!”

  
      Silence.

  
     “Matt?”

  
     Crickets.

  
     I sighed dramatically and pounded on the door again with my fists. “Matt, Dad’s inviting our uncles, you gotta come out, _pleeeeaaaaase_?”

  
     Finally, he answered the door. He had been crying, he looked exhausted.

     “Matty? Are you okay?” I asked naively. Now that I think about it, it was a dumb thing to ask, but I don’t guess he cared.

  
     “Can I tell you something, Al?” he asked quietly. Matthew’s voice had always been soft, but this time it sounded fragile. This was the saddest I had ever seen him and it scared me. I simply nodded.

  
     “I don’t want to be king.”

  
       I paused for a moment, just trying to understand what he said. He just turned back and walked into his room.

  
     “Wait, _what_? What do you mean you don’t want to be king?” I said quickly, following after him.

  
     “Look at me, Alfred! Do you really think I’m King material?” he snapped, his hands shaking. “I’m never not nervous, I hate making others upset, which kings do a lot, I’ve realized. I wasn’t made for this, Al.” he sat down on his bed and buried his face into hands. I realized that the barrier between me and Matthew wasn’t the jealousy, it was the fact that he didn’t want this. I simply didn’t notice, I was too entangled in my own ego. Seeing him now, trying to hide his entire person into his shaking hands, of course i realized this. I sat down next to him.

  
     “Well, then you’re not going to be King. They can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to, Matt. Let’s get you out of this.”  
He sniffed and looked at me. I could tell he trusted me, he always does and always listens to my advice, but at the time I had no clue what we were gonna do. I have this thing where I always know what to do, but I didn’t then. In the history of all kings and queens, it’s never been heard of someone stepping down from the crown.

  
     “Okay,” he mumbled, “what are we gonna do?”

  
     “First, game plan. Second, tell Dad - not Papa, Dad. It’s just no one has ever done this before, Matt, but I don’t see it written anywhere that you have to take the throne.”

     
     “You could take it.” he said after a pause.

  
     “What? No way they would let me have it. Is that even possible?”

  
     “Like you said, it’s not written down anywhere that you can’t. You’re better fit for the throne than I am, and you know it.”

   
     I sat there for a moment. It’s funny, because even now that I’m older, I feel as if Matt would be a better king than I. Remember how I said I seem to always know what to do? I usually don’t nowadays, Matt does. Matthew is level, and kind, and overall a better leader than I am. I don’t say this to degrade myself or anything, anyone could tell you this, but yet he still claimed I would be better fit to rule an entire kingdom.

  
      And all I could say was, “Okay.”

  
     “Okay?”

     
     “Okay.” I repeated, not really moving. And that was it. I didn’t tell him how I felt about him, what I actually thought, I just stupidly repeated, “okay.”


	2. Chapter 2

Part One; Alfred’s POV  
Chapter 2

     Matthew and I had left his bedroom, and set off to find Dad. We went upstairs to his office to find him on the telephone with our Uncle Allistor. Matthew and I both held our breath and waited for him to hang up.

  
     “What do you mean you’re going to be late?” Dad hissed into the phone. He glanced over at us and smiled a bit. Only one second later was he his grumpy self again and continued chastising his brother.

  
     “Fine. As long as you get here before 16:00.” And with that, he hung up the phone with a sigh. He then walked over to us.

  
     “That was Allistor, it seems he will be late,” he sighed and then smiled at Matthew and combed his fingers through his hair, “Happy birthday, Matthew. Are you excited?”  
Matthew smiled the best he could. “That’s what we came to talk to you about.”

  
     This got his attention. He immediately retreated his gaze to me.

  
      “Alfred, what did you do?”

  
      “What? I didn’t do anything!” I retorted. He always blamed me for things, even things he didn’t know about yet. Although, he was in the right to accuse me. It wasn’t like Matthew was always disturbing the neighbors, breaking limbs, or destroying the castle. I claimed that as _my_ job.

  
He sighed and walked back over to his desk and sat down.“Okay, what did you _both_ do? Does your father know, is he in on it? Go on, spit it out.”

  
     Matthew took a deep breath, stepped forward toward the desk and his eyes welled up with tears again. I forget sometimes how big of a crier Matthew was when we were kids.

  
     “Dad, I don’t want to be king.” he sniffed.

  
      Dad quickly looked up and raised his brow. “You don’t? Oh, Matthew,” he got up again and went over and hugged him. He began to comb his fingers through his hair again, he did that a lot to us, and rock him.

  
     “There’s nothing to be scared of, son. You’ll be an amazing king. Don’t cry, you’re gonna be okay.” he cooed softly as Matthew cried into his chest.

  
     “That’s the thing,” Matthew choked out, “I don’t care how good I’ll be, I don’t want to do it. I’ve never wanted to do it.”

  
      “Then what do you suggest we do, Matty?” He only ever called him that when he cried. I just stood back and watched helplessly. I never really knew what to do when Matt cried, or when anyone cries, for that matter. Even my hands don't know what to do. Instead, I just stared down at my socks and listened to my father try and reason with my brother.

  
     Matthew pulled back and rubbed his eyes with his sweater sleeve. “Can’t I give it to Alfred?”

  
      That sure got his attention.

    
     “No. No, no, Alfred is nowhere near ready for that,” it was as if he had just remembered I was standing there, “yet.”

  
      This made Matt cry more and suddenly Dad looked more tired. “Have you told your father?” he sighed finally.

       We both shook our head no.

  
      He sighed again and trailed on back to his desk and sunk back into his chair. Matthew sniffed and rubbed his face; it was like he was trying to push the sobs back into his body. Dad rubbed his forehead and thought for a moment.

  
     “And you want me to tell him.”

  
      We both paused for a moment, looked at each other, and then nodded our heads. This made Dad smile a bit. He stood up and checked his watch.

  
        “Okay, you boys win. Matthew, are you absolutely positive you want this? You can’t just decide years on down the road that you want to be king. I need you to be a thousand percent sure about this.”

  
     Matthew nodded quickly. “I am, I promise. I think Alfred is better suit for it.”

  
     Dad sighed once again and looked at me. He ruffled my hair, which made me smile big, and smiled himself.  
“I’ll see what I can do. Stay out of the way of your Papa until I can get through to him, okay?” he said and kissed our heads and left the room.

  
     I didn’t fully register the fact that I was getting crowned in four days until we all sat down at the dining table to talk about this. Papa had been quiet, but not angry or sad, just thoughtful. I remember watching Dad reach for his hand across the table and feeling safe. No matter what we decided, I knew they had our backs. And not that I’d ever tell them, but I really love my parents.

  
      Dad grew up along with four half brothers: Uncle James, Uncle Dylan, Uncle Allistor, and Uncle Aaron. My grandmother, was queen, obviously, but didn’t marry until she had Dad. The royal system is all kinds of screwed up, but we manage. As far as I know, our uncles were never jealous or anything of Dad; they sure as hell annoy him though. Papa, on the other hand, only had a little sister, Aunt Lucille. It wasn’t until recently that my other grandmother adopted a pair of siblings, but I’ll get to them later. Then, of course, they had each other. There was a lot of fuss for Dad and Papa to unite our kingdoms. Some people were angry, while some weren’t. That’s the bad thing about being royalty, every single thing you do is watched and critiqued. Dad and Papa didn’t seem to care about that, though. Papa, when he would tuck me and Matty into bed, he would tell us stories about Dad’s rebel days and how he snuck out of Spades and would go see him in the kingdom of Diamonds.

  
    “He always told me: ‘I’ll steal you away, _mon cher_. I’ll steal you away.’ His French was terrible,” Papa would say with a smile.

  
     Dad would always respond with, “You’re the one who fell in love with my bad French, dear. Must you always mock my accent?”

  
     This always got a giggle out of me and Matthew. Then they would kiss each other, then our heads, turn on a night light, and leave us for the night. Matthew and I would drift off to sleep, content as can be. If only it stayed that way.

     We sat around the table and Papa finally spoke up. “What will we tell the people?”

  
     “We’ll tell them the truth. Alfred will be king in four days. Matthew will be…” he paused then looked at Matt. “Well, what will you be Matthew?”  
Matthew looked down at his hands and then back at me. He thought for a minute and glanced back up at Papa.

  
     “I want to be Alfred’s Jack.” he finally said.

  
     “Matthew, that’s dangerous and you know it,” I quickly said. I couldn’t stand he thought of him strong hurt, especially for my sake.

  
     “Antonio has been fine. And he’s served Papa since he was sixteen too. I’ll be okay, but I want to be at your side.”

  
     I sighed, knowing there was no way to change his mind. Papa had started to trace his thumb over Dad’s.

  
    “If that’s what you really want, Matthieu… We’ll do whatever you need.” he said and looked at Dad, who nodded in return.

    
    “So then it’s settled. We’ll make the announcement soon.” Dad said and stood up. “Now you two go get cleaned up, your uncles and aunt will be here soon.”

  
     So, that was it. My brother threw out a life of royalty and leadership just for me, and I really didn’t know how to respond to it. I could hardly get a word in. Although, I was grateful and nervous. Sometimes I wonder if things would have been different if Matty had accepted the throne that day. Actually, I know it would have been different. As soon as the crown was placed upon my head, my kingdom was in danger.


	3. Chapter 3

Part One; Alfred’s POV  
Chapter 3

     The next four days seemed to fly by. Like it was when Dad and Papa got married, some people loved the fact that I was going to be king, others hated it. Dad swore up and down that would change, but he said it as if he was trying to convince himself as well. I mean, I will say now that I am twenty-one, I’m a great leader. My citizens are loyal and everything was great for a hot minute, but I’ll get to that in time.

  
     Anyway, that was the day I turned fourteen, July 4th. I wasn’t the youngest king there ever was, but I was one of the few. I had been dreaming of a day that I thought would never come, but it did! I was pretty stoked about that, but also nervous. It was like the whole world was watching me, history had its eyes on me, and I knew it. Although I was scared, I felt myself staring history back in the face.

  
     On that night, all leaders and their officials were in our kingdom. The “guests of honor” were King Johannes from Hearts and King Yao Wang from Clubs. I was a lot more interested in their kids, the future heirs. From Hearts, there was Ludwig Beilschmidt and from Clubs there was Ivan Braginsky.

     Ivan was brought up from a weird place. King Yao never married, but he does have children. Years ago, when my parents had gained the throne, King Yao had a son named Li Xiao. It is said, that the king had three other children, two sons and a girl. The mother remains unknown, and honestly no one really knows if the other three children even exist. When Li Xiao was fifteen, he fled, and according to the rumors he took the three little ones with him. No one ever brings this up to King Yao, in fear they’ll get hurt, but the rumors aren’t subtle. The Kingdom of Clubs was devastated when their prince disappeared. Anyway, about five years ago, King Yao claimed he had adopted a child. No one really knew where this child came from, but it was Ivan. Ivan is a year older than I am, and no one really knows much about him. The Kingdom of Clubs is shady as it is.  
I had to do a bunch of boring stuff, before I actually got to swear to the Kingdom and all that jazz. I wanted to go talk with Matt, after the ceremony, but he was chatting with some scrawny albino kid from another kingdom. Instead, I slipped away from the main hall and wandered our castle. Once again, I found myself gazing up at the art that hung on our walls. I glanced over and saw the Prince of Clubs, Ivan. He seemed to notice me at the same time and jumped.

  
     “Oh, my bad, dude,” I stuttered out with a wave, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  
     He literally just stared at me. This kid really was weird. He wore a huge scarf that covered his chin a little, and a heavy coat. It was nice, don’t get me wrong, but weird. His hair was crystal blond, almost white, and he had lavender eyes. He looked very doll like, but was huge. It was like his body had outgrown his face. I decided to step closer and I look back up at the walls.

  
     “So, you’re Ivan, right? How are you liking Spades?” I asked, trying to break the silence.

  
     “Why do you talk to me like I am your equal?” he said quickly, without looking at me.

  
     Straight to the point. O-kay. I’m not going to lie, the question did catch me off guard, but I really tried to answer casually.

  
     “Why wouldn’t we be equals? I know I’m being crowned early, but you will next year. We’ll be ruling together, working together. Plus, just because I’m king doesn’t mean you’re below me, I don’t think anyone is below me.” I shrugged and looked at him.

  
     He completely ditched what I said. “I like your home. It’s pretty.”

  
     “The art? Yeah, me too, but I don’t really understand it. I guess it’s pretty.”

  
     “That’s _"The Kiss"_ by Gustav Klimt.”

   
     “I’ve always thought that one looked weird, but it’s Papa - I mean, King Francis’ favorite. He’s all about that love business,” I chuckled, “He should’ve been King of Hearts.”  
That got him to smile. “I really love this painting. We don’t have much art I like at home.”

  
    “You’ll be able to change that in a year,” I responded.

  
     “You’re strange, King Alfred.”

  
     King Alfred. That had a nice ring to it. I grinned, “Well, so are you Future-King Ivan. Why else would you be avoiding a party to stare at paintings?”

  
     He smiled some more. I found myself really liking that smile. It was like he wasn’t used to it,he had a very serious, yet anxious aura to him. But when he smiled, it was like… sun during a snowy day. I could tell he really appreciated it.

  
      We eventually sat on a bench in the hall and just chatted. And laughed. We laughed an awful lot, I also found myself really liking his laugh. I couldn’t tell if he just didn’t talk much, or if I was doing too much of the talking. But, I think he had a nice time, I know I did. Soon, the night was ending and King Yao came and fetched him, but his personality changed. He turned emotionless and formal in saying goodbye, but as he walked through the door he turned around and waved to me.

  
     I was dead tired, but I still had people to see out. The Prince of Hearts, Ludwig, shook my hand hard and in a firm voice said,

    “I look forward to our future business together. Also, happy birthday and congratulations, King Alfred.” It was like he had that memorized, like a robot.

     I said goodbye to all my uncles, Aunt Lucille, Grandma Marianne, and her two adopted ones, Elise and Basch. Finally, after a good while, everyone had gone. Dad and Papa looked tired, but content and they both covered me and Matthew in kisses and hugs, we never really did grow out of the love they gave.  
Dad combed his fingers through my hair. “You’ve grown into a fine young man, Alfred. You as well, Matthew. I’m proud of you both,” he then placed a kiss on our foreheads. Antonio, Papa’s Jack, came around the corner and beckoned me to him. I managed to slip away from Dad and Papa as they wept over how big me and Matthew were getting, they did this at all of our birthdays. Matthew always handled it better than I did, so I was grateful.

  
     “I got you a present, Al,” he grinned.

  
      I was ecstatic, I had already gotten so many gifts tonight. “Really?” I asked, barely being able to contain my energy,”What is it? What is it? Can I have it now? Please, Antonio?”

     He laughed. “Of course you can have it now. I’ve already given Matthew his gift, follow me to my workshop.”

  
     I happily tagged behind him, nearly skipping. The best part about all of this was the presents and Antonio has always been one of the coolest people I’ve ever known. Not to mention he’s one hell of a warrior. And cook, but that’s arguably less important.

  
      We reached his shop and he walked over to a table with a sheet on it. He grinned at me and yanked off the sheet, revealing a sword.

  
      “I know I should probably wait until you’re sixteen to give you this, but I might as well now. I crafted it myself.”

  
     “Antonio, this is awesome!” I reached for it, but immediately jerked back,”can I hold it, please please please?”

    
     That made him laugh. “Of course you can, Alfred, it’s yours. Although I will have to train you how to use it. You and Matthew both will start training Monday.”

  
     I nodded and reached for the sword again. It felt just right in my hand. I studied the blade, the crafting of the handle. It had our Spade on it, and my name. It was a deep blue color, lined with gold; it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I thanked Antonio at least eighteen times until it was time for bed. I said goodnight to Matthew and told him loved him, along with Dad and Papa. Papa cried some more and Dad tried to contain it, but really sucked at it. Finally I was alone in my bedroom.  
So, that was the day of how my life became what it is now. At the time, everything seemed so simple. But this is where the real story begins, the true story of my kingdom that wasn’t supposed to belong to me in the first place.


End file.
